It often happens, when writing or speaking in English,that youneedtwo or more verbs, one after another.When this is the case,there areoftenquestions aboutthe form of the second (third, etc.)verb. Shoulditbeaninfinitive(to + simpleform)? Should itbea gerund(-ing form)? Should it be a base (simple)form? If there is anobject, where does the object go? etc.

We hope to provide some answers for these questionsin the nextseveralHints of the Day.

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Verb + to + Verb

In English, verbs often connect to other verbs byusing to:

I need totrytocontinuetowork very hard.

In the sentence above, three verbs--try, continue, andwork--connectto need byusing to.TherearemanyEnglishverbsthat connect to other verbs in this way.Here aresomeof thethe most common ones:

All of the verbs above may be followed by to +anotherverb. Some of them (attempt, can't bear,begin, continue,forget, hate, like, love, prefer,regret,remember, can't stand,start, try) may alsobefollowed by a gerund (an -ing form).

2.

To make verbs connected by to negative, use anauxiliary+ not for the first verb, but make the"connected" verbs negative byusing only not:

Examples:

He doesn't(didn't, won't) need to try to
continue to workso hard. / He hasn't(hadn't)
needed to try to continue to workso hard.

He needs to try notto continue to workso hard.

He needs to try to continue notto workso hard.

3.

When verbs are connected with to, the first verbcanbe in any tense, but the others are in simpleformbecause they follow to:

Examples:

I'm planning to arrange to takesome time off.

I plan to to arrange to takesome time off.

I planned to to arrange to takesome time off.

I planned to to arrange to takesome time off.

I've planned to arrange to takesome time off.

I'd planned to arrange to takesome time off,but I had to change my plans.

I'll want to arrange to takesome time offnext Spring.

4.

Some of the verbs above have special meaningsor uses when they follow to: